Silent World: A Silent Hill Fanfiction
by Randomer
Summary: It is the year 2005, a beautiful summers day in Silent Hill. But something isn't right. A deep mist chokes the hillsides. Some residents are missing, others have gone mad and chaos soon takes a hold. What would happen if Silent Hill just... woke up? R&R!
1. Good Morning

**Authors Note:**

**Hey guys. I just want to let you know before you start reading that I am no expert on Silent Hill lore. Please don't start tearing my work apart because of its lack of "too the dot" accuracy in all aspects of lore. Remember Silent Hill is a mystery. This story should be unlike any other fanfic, and probably unlike any Silent Hill game. Please R&R or I won't write any more.**

_The information came in, a flash flood of statistics and opinion. He really wondered if this was what the end of the world should have been like. It was like ivy, a plant that started out as a shield, but soon became a threat as it brought the walls of the world tumbling down. He stood before a series of television screens. LA, Paris, Beijing and Moscow were just some of the names flashing up in the tides."_

"_So be it." He thought to himself, pressing the buttons and turning the keys. It was time to pacify the earth, to end it all. From now on mankind would live in a different world. A Silent World._

**Silent World: A **_**Silent Hill**_** Fanfiction**

**Chapter 1:**

"Morning…" Marcus muttered to himself as his eyes opened. It was not a pleasant one. The sun came streaming through the corner of his window blind and straight into his eyes. He practically rolled out of his bed, hearing his mother's harsh voice calling him from downstairs.

"Marcus, Kelly! You're both late for school!" She cried, but not with an ounce of anger, the sunny day had brought joy to his mother and he was happy for that. It took him a few more minutes to get fully out of bed. He was about to make his way to the shower but he could already hear it running, his sister had beaten him to it. He decided to skip showering and change anyway. Making his way across his bedroom towards his clothes draws he suddenly felt light headed.

The world spun around him and he heard an eerie noise in his head, slightly like a police siren only a much lower pitch, like a moan rather than a squawk. He felt something cold and sticky on his barefoot and went tumbling down onto the floor. His cream coloured carpet smelt like deodorant and dust. He felt cramp shoot up his left leg and clutched it in agony. He straightened it out in a desperate attempt to rid himself of the cramp. The thud his body made on the floor must have aroused his mother's attention. He could hear everything in their old house, including the footsteps on the stairs and the rumble of the boiler downstairs. There was a knock at the door.

"You alright?" Marcus heard his mother ask from the other side.

"I'm fine mum, just looking for some clothes." He replied.

"Okay dear."

There were distant footsteps on the stairs again. The hum of the shower ceased.

With much effort, as this was still an early hour for the average 16 year old, Marcus pushed himself up from the floor and collapsed back onto his bed as the persistent cramp in his leg came back for one last assault on his body. As he sat with his head in his hands trying to gather together his thoughts, his digital alarm clock decided to finally ring its tinny wake up tune.  
"Fat lot of good you did…" mumbled Marcus as he tweaked the buttons on the front to turn it off. He paused, two things were wrong here. Firstly there was the obvious error of the date. According to his clock it was 7:42 a.m. on January 1st 1965. The date was clearly wrong; he knew it was actually 2005. But what was the date. He knew it was summer, the bright and strong sun proved that.

The second thing he noticed was the alarm; normally he was tuned into Brahms' local radio station. They played a good mix of oldies, rock and jazz. He flicked the switch and tweaked the tuning dial. All the way through the FM frequency there was nothing but very quiet static. He even tried longwave, there was nothing there.

Partially out of routine, but mostly out of a paranoid fear that the world had disappeared, Marcus hurriedly leapt to the other side of his bed and speedily raised the blinds. He sighed with relief, the world was still there, and it was as beautiful as ever. Their small house had a tiny back yard full of flowers (his mother being a florist) and beyond their swing-seat a wooden fence stood which separated their household from their neighbours the Gillespie family. Beyond the houses in his street there was a large open field and beyond that the wood and rivers which seperated them from Old Silent Hill. New Silent Hill was a much nicer place to live, yeah it was a small town, but it was okay for him.

Marcus decided to have a shower, he was walking out of the room when he noticed the squashed plate of a curry readymeal from last night. He rememberd his fall earlier and finally took a look at his foot. It was covered with an reddish mix of curry sauce and pilau rice.

"Aw shit." Marcus uttered, he spied the footprints on his bed and carpet he had made with the curry. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

_"Mary… Maria? Are you there?"_

_A voice came quietly from within the darkened truck-stop restroom._

_"You did it agan honey. Don't you ever remember who I am?"_

_She emerged into the fog blanketed daylight._

_"I do. Its just hard sometimes. We have to get moving, this place is pretty dangerous."_

_They moved slowly to the waiting car, weapons drawn._

_"Where are we going?"_

_He held the car door open for her._

_"The last place I'd ever want to go."_

_The car door closed with a rusty clang._

_"Do we have to go there?"_

_The car was started._

_"Yes."_

_Putting it into drive they returned to the winding road._

_"James. Don't ever call me Mary again."_


	2. Odocoileus Virginianus

**Authors note: For those that might have thought I was going totally AWOL with this, I hope it puts you all back on track. By the way the date this is all set in has changed, it is now 2005 instead of 1998, I have made these alterations in the first part also. I hope you enjoy it, please R&R both parts, I will be very grateful :D**

Brett Thompson was confused, this was something that didn't happen often and it alarmed him. Tax returns, chemical equations, vehicle maintenance and other things had never troubled his mind much, that said, he rarely attempted any of them. Every morning he had driven from the printing house to the gas stations and village stores in nearby areas to deliver the local newspaper. He had been doing this for twenty years now, he had battled his way to Brahms in a blizzard, helped tow a car out of a river and even saved a life in a motorcycle accident. It was a small history of heroism, one he attributed purely to patriotism and his own 'balls of steel'.

He had driven on the road out of Silent Hill that circled around Toluca Lake and then out of town. He had passed the amusements a short while ago and knew that he should have turned off by now; he had this route down to the second in his mind. It wasn't that he had missed the turning, but rather that the fog was growing so thick. Brett Thompson was confused, he was totally lost. He pulled his van over and stopped on the loose gravel beyond the road. Either side of the road was lined with thick woodland, he could barely see beyond the first few rows of trees. He reached into the back of the van for his GPS and maps, he had never used the GPS and rarely needed maps, he knew these roads like the back of his hand, or at least he used to.

"Come on! Tell me where the hell I am." He muttered to the GPS handheld, tapping away with the stylus. His eyes were getting old now; he had forgotten his glasses today and had to squint to read the tiny text. He threw down the handheld in anger when he saw its answer.

"Like hell I'm in New Orleans! I'm in Maine!"

He turned upon the maps now and whipped out his phone now to call the base and let them know what had happened, he felt somewhat ashamed as he perused the map and waited for the dial tone. There was nothing, not even a robotic female voice telling him "his call could not be transferred", there was no signal around here, he guessed there probably wasn't any outside of town, the woods and hills went on for quite some time. He was about to get into the truck and try to make progress on his trip when he had that undeniable feeling of being watched. He spun around, not knowing what to expect. From just beyond the first line of trees there came something. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw what it was, a deer, White-tail or some other species by his best guess. Under most other circumstances he would have ignored it, he saw deer all the time, but this was rather different. The animal came forward, crossing out of the woods and through the low brush. It stopped right in front of him, mere metres away. The animal was a female, he could tell by the lack of antlers and its size, but its behaviour was still beyond him.

The deer made a loud call that echoed around the hushed area. There were no birds and the air was still. The deer had its head lowered, not in an offensive manner, but rather submissive, Brett leant back against the van as the deer made the final few steps towards him. It shook its head and brushed its cheek briefly against Brett's knee. He flinched. The animal looked up at him, its eyes were dark and baleful, and he half considered stroking it like a dog, but thought it wise not to alarm this obviously brave creature. He half expected the beast to ask "is this the road to London?" But for the brief moment their eyes met Brett found himself thinking "where the hell do I go now?" It was as if the deer had heard him, he flinched again as the creature bolted away from him and further up the road away from Silent Hill. It paused a short distance away; its form was now unclear as the fog shrouded it. It nodded its head frantically. Brett assumed this would be a good time to continue his journey, he should at least try to reach some of the other destinations that lay this way, he would try to find the turning later. The novelty of this curious animal was now wearing off into concern, perhaps it was diseased?

He clambered back into the van and started the engine, hearing the dear call again, only this time it was cut short and an awful squeal followed it. He had looked away only for a few seconds as he was putting his map and now broken GPS away, something very freaky had happened. The deer was no longer stood in the centre of the road, rather it was lying there like road kill. Brett leant up over the dashboard to get a clearer look; there was a howling wind in the trees now and despite the mist he could clearly see the twisted form of the animal that only a minute ago had been nuzzling him. He was about to get out and investigate when his radio suddenly turned on! It hadn't worked in years, crazed static poured out and he fumble with the volume control to turn it down. It wasn't working.

He had had enough, putting the van into gear he did a 180° turn and sped back to silent hill, repeatedly mashing the radio with his palm to silence it. The static grew quieter and quieter as he sped away. The fog grew lighter too, and eventually he could feel the sun warming his face. Less than 15 minutes later he caught sight of Toluca Lake rising into view and he felt somewhat calm as he spotted people out and about in the town that was scattered around this body of water. But then he spied the hills beyond, some were clear, those that lead into the direction of Old Silent Hill, but others were much different, the same dense fog choked them. All around, the town was trapped by it. He felt alarm rising in him again and had to pull over to calm his nerves.

He pulled into the amusement park car-park, it was not yet open and one of the maintenance staff was combing it with a litter-picker. Brett slowly opened the glove box and leant over to reach to the back, he withdrew a lighter and a pack of 10 cigarettes. With a profound sense of transgression he opened the sealed pack and drew one out. He lit it and felt like he was signing away his soul again. For the first time in three years Brett Thompson had a cigarette. For the first time in three years, Brett Thompson cried, cupping his hands to catch the tears that would flow for much of that morning. He took in long drags and opened the sunroof above him; staring up at the distant whips of clouds and the blue abyss of heaven he had one single and overwhelming thought. He raised his middle finger and cast it upward through the sunroof, satisfied in the knowledge that 'The Good Lord' had probably seen what he was doing, he couldn't care either way, it was his little sins like this that made him feel alive again.

* * *

_The small bell tinkled as James stepped through the door to the gas station store. He looked up and down the first aisle. There was a low hum of air conditioning inside that was a pleasant change from the eerie silence of the outside. The shelves were still full, this surprised him only a little and the odds were no one had been along this lonely road in a week. Nobody would probably be along here again. He grabbed a basket and absent-mindedly plucked things from the shelves. Some tinned vegetables, chocolate and crisps. He kept his eyes focused on the counter; there was nobody behind it and to his further surprise there were no corpses lying around. He tried to ignore the smell of faeces as he passed the restrooms but the puddles of murky liquid on the floor were very obvious and piqued his curiosity. There was noting in there, just the smell, greasy surfaces and peeling wallpaper. As he turned around to leave the restrooms he heard something clatter in the distance. James fumbled angrily with his belt, cursing under his breath until he found his pistol lodged there. He dashed out into the aisles and looked both ways, there was nothing. Beyond the dirty storefront windows he spied Mary… Maria, sat casually on the bonnet of their hatchback sedan. She looked calm; he was still tense because of the mist, the mist that meant he could not see beyond the forecourt. It was all too familiar to him and in his mind he saw images of twisted corpses and the stench of death wafted past his nostrils._

_He moved to the counter and leapt over it to rummage behind. He found the kinds of things he needed, a single barrelled hunting rifle was buried beneath boxes of carrier bags. He found a small box of cartridges amongst the cigarette packs that littered the ground. He grabbed some of these as well; maybe he would take up smoking. He placed all these in a basket along with the food he had picked out. He was about to check out the back office for further supplies when he heard Maria cry out._

"_James!" Maria cried from outside, a shout that thankfully betrayed joy rather than fear. He glanced through the storefront windows to see a pair of bright lights breaking through the fog. Headlights. James wasn't as eager as Maria for any encounter, he gripped his pistol tightly, strapped the rifle over his shoulder and checked the basket in his hand. He heard another clattering noise from somewhere behind him, then distant voices outside. He took one look back at the ominous restroom. "Ah forget it." He thought. With one deep breath to calm his nerves, James stepped through the door and outside. The small bell tinkled._


	3. The Lonely Roads

**Authors Note: This chapter could be longer as I normally include events both in the town and outside of it. But I decided that with four new characters and information that this should stand on its own as a chapter. People Don't seem to mind short chapters and I prefer it this way for fanfic stories. An important thing to point out are _the parts in italics_. I put these things in Italics purely because they take place outside of Silent Hill, and I wanted to make that clear now to avoid confusion. Its just done for effect, its not past or future, its all present.**

_

* * *

_

Juliet McAlister gripped the steering wheel of the hefty people-carrier as they sped along the deserted highway. She hadn't even passed drivers-ed and here she was speeding down empty roads with no licence and very little experience. The driving disrupted her train of thought, "I can't believe this is happening shift up, all this crazy stuff, what has the world come left hand bend coming up to. She took a moment to glance around the car, her uncle, the man who had been driving for nearly two days straight was asleep, her grandmother was sat perfectly still with her eyes dead set ahead. "Eyes on the road." She silently ordered Juliet. She then stole a glance at the other passenger, the only one she wasn't related to. They had picked this passenger up just after they fled Boston. She said she needed to get north to some place in Maine. At first there had been many people around, chaos, but now there were much fewer. Her uncle had refused to even go near other people in this state of disorder; he had read too much H.G. Wells.

_Juliet found herself staring at this girl in the rear-view mirror, her eyes were open and she was staring poignantly out of the window, her dark brown eyes seemed glazed over and weary. Stealing further glances Juliet took into account the worn orange tank-top and the torn jeans. The girl in the back was a few years older than her, but still pretty young. Juliet took another moment to focus on the road, checking the signs and adjusting her lights to see in the fog that suddenly grew denser. It was everywhere this mist, sometimes it wasn't bad, a natural fog or mist, other times it was like smoke. There came a sudden stretch of highway where she could see more clearly, taking this opportunity of easy driving she peered again at the girl sat next to her grandmother in the back seat. Juliet took a sharp breath in, this girl frightened her a little bit but she was pretty. The girl was fumbling with her short blond hair, rubbing her scalp._

"_Heather," Juliet whispered, half out of shyness, half out of a fear of disturbing her uncle. The girl looked up to meet her eyes in the mirror._

"_Yes?" Heather asked, breaking the brief stare and returning to her blank stare out the window. Juliet sighed and focused back on the road again. There was a long awkward silence only broken by her grandmother's sighs and her uncle's gentle snores. Eventually however her grandmother spoke,_

"_What time is it Jul?" _

"_11:24 a.m. Granny." Juliet replied, staring at the dashboard clock._

"_Where was it you were going?" Her grandmother asked Heather._

"_A place that isn't too far from here, when we reach somewhere I recognize you can drop me off and be on your way. Thanks once again for the ride. I would be dead by now."_

"_Its okay, frankly we were glad to see someone else." Juliet replied, she then noticed the highway turn onto a large freeway, the road sloped down and joined the three empty lanes on either side, the fog was thickening again. _

_They had gone less than ¼ mile down the road before Juliet noticed the fuel counter, it bordering on red. The freeway was empty, not a single other car, driven or abandoned. Juliet cursed under her breath and slowed to a halt in the central lane. _

"_Uncle," she said loudly, he snorted and woke suddenly, without waiting for him to speak Juliet stepped out of the car. It was time to swap again._

"_Give me a minute honey." Her uncle said, stirring in the front seat, he took off his seatbelt and rubbed his eyes. He was the only one in the car wearing one. Heather followed Juliet's lead and stepped out onto the deserted road. It was cold out here, not a bitter cold but a damp and moist cold like a rainy day without the rain. There was no sun visible; they hadn't seen it since the chaos began._

_Juliet moved to sit on the central barrier between the two halves of the freeway and took in several deep breaths, trying to calm her thoughts. It had happened suddenly; the sky disappeared behind fog, and then everywhere disappeared. The first hours were screams and shouts, and then the chaos began. Typical end of the world shit, looting, shooting and violence. They had fled to the countryside, at first it was a case of hiding from other people, but over the first few days people just stopped being around. Now there was nobody._

_As if to spite her there was the sound of screeching tires some distance up the road. They all turned to spot a strong beam of headlights penetrating the fog, they were moving erratically, followed by the honk of a horn, rapid and desperate. Her uncle was prepared, he ran over to her and pulled her back to the car as a fast moving Jeep shot out of the fog. As it passed them, the vehicle braked suddenly, sliding into a spin, this spin lead into a roll and a few seconds later the jeep was lying upside down about 50 metres down the road. _

"_Oh god!" cried Juliet's grandmother, she clambered back into their car for protection. _

"_Mother!" her uncle cried, "get me the gun from the glovebox now!"_

_Gregory McAlister was a Gulf War veteran, but that was nothing to do with what made him ask for the gun. His mother shakily tossed the gun to him; it was a clunky and old handgun, brought for a low price at a firearms fair a few years back. It was then he noticed Heather, the stranger they had picked up, she was already at the car, peering frantically through the window. Gregory was filled with fear, couldn't she see it? Beyond the cracked glass there wasn't a dead body, something was still alive in there, and it was moving frantically._

_For Heather, this was something very different. Ever since she had left Silent Hill, she had never had nightmares, and then when the world went to shit, so did she. Every night she would dream of that town, it was calling to her, and she was so close. She could not see what was causing the disaster, the monsters that millions had screamed about. It was only as she touched the cracked and misted glass of the jeep that she saw what was there. The howls and the cries of torment, the brown and slimy twisted beings of that town. She leapt back just in time. The door of the upturned car was blown open and flew up and over the central barrier onto the other side of the freeway. Then the corpse started to move, not of its own accord, but rather it was dragged, the right arm moving before the rest of the body, it was the body of a man. Heather could see it as though it were a ghost, a blurry outline of the horror. She scanned her surroundings for a weapon; there was nothing she could use. The old lady and the girl couldn't seem to see it, but the man, Gregory, he stood petrified. Heather understood how these things operated, it was coming for him._

"_Help me!" Gregory shouted, he fired off several shots with his gun. To him, he saw the creature bleed and spasm, he heard its scream. To Juliet and her grandmother all they saw was a sudden splatter of dark blood on the road, they were equally petrified of Gregory and his behaviour. Heather knew she had to help somehow._

"_Get in the car!" Gregory screamed, "Get in the damn car!"_

_He was about to shoot again, only this time he paused, the creature was gone, replaced by the body of a boy no older than ten. He was crawling along the ground, his tanned skin was blistered, his face blindfolded. Gregory screamed, dropping the gun. The boy rose up, changing suddenly back into the creature, its pink limbs flailing above Gregory's head as he collapsed on the ground. He took a foetal position and whimpered, expecting the end. Heather had already decided however, that his time was not up._

_With one swing of the combat knife she had hidden around her belt she had brought the creature back down. She still couldn't see it, but she could feel it. The spine-tingling and the feeling of wanting to vomit. The trail of blood had stopped, it would be there. She struck wildly into the air, her second strike was a success, blood few out of the air, hitting both her and Gregory. He crawled back, shivering and muttering. _

"_Is it dead?" she shouted at him, he stared up at her with wide eyes, fumbling for the words._

"_Y-yes." He stuttered, scrambling to his feet with the help of Juliet._

"_What did you see?"_

_He did not reply, instead he turned and stumbled up to the bonnet of the people-carrier, leaning his hands against it and coughing violently._

"_I saw a boy." He muttered eventually, "I saw a monster, and then it was a boy."_

"_A boy, what does that mean?" Juliet asked, she looked to Heather for the answer, she was preoccupied wiping the knife on the side of her jeans._

"_It doesn't matter, what does matter is that we get the hell out of here. Where's the road map?"_

_Gregory had regained his composure and returned the gun to the glovebox, he also drew out roadmap of the state, Heather snatched it from him and spread it out on the sloping bonnet of the car, they all gathered round._

"_We are here." She said, pointing at the snaking line that was the freeway. "Half an hour up the freeway we will come off, forty minutes after that we will be near a place called Brahms. You can drop me off anywhere near there; I will walk the rest of the way."_

"_This place you are going, will there be supplies? Why are you so confident about it?" Gregory asked._

"_I'm not; I just have a hunch, that's all."_

_That was enough; they were desperate enough to go on a hunch. With mixed emotions and frayed nerves they drove off up the highway, drawing ever closer to their destination. Heather believed she was leading them to hell, she couldn't have been more wrong._


	4. The Chaos Begins

**Authors Note: The Events in this chapter take place 1 ½ hours before those of the previous one. I hope to now get into the meat of the story telling. All the main characters have been introduced to us now.**

Police Chief Daniels pulled his squad-car up onto the sidewalk and stepped out. He straightened his cap and secured his belt. The radio had been silent all morning; there was nothing for him to do but the usual rounds. He was never one to save the best till last as in his mind as it was the first drink that was always the most refreshing, best to have the best things first then. He closed the car door behind him and walked slowly along the row of shops. It had just gone 10:00 a.m. The café was open and a few people were sat on the veranda, leisurely passing the time until lunch. Daniels nodded at the waitress who gave him a warm smile in response. The sun was really beating down now and he paused in the window of the grocery store next door to rub his chin and admire his perfectly straightened cap. He was one of the youngest (and perhaps the best looking) officer in Silent Hill, and he was the Chief, the Sheriff, the Boss." There were four men on the force that were older than him, but he was the most skilled out of all of them. He deserved this position and this power. He craved it.

He continued his steady stroll past the next shop and crossed over the street to arrive at the florists. Here was the work place of the woman he had come to see. Cassandra. He checked his cap again in the store window and stepped inside. As he crossed the threshold he found an extravagant bouquet of roses pushed into his face. He took a step back and nearly tripped back out of the shop door. The friendly and gorgeous face appeared from behind the flowers.

"If you're going to come in and annoy me all morning, you can make yourself useful first!" she said with a laugh.

"Hey Cassandra." He said, grabbing the bouquet as ordered.

"Hey yourself, now put these in the van, I'm on my own today and I have a big wedding reception for tomorrow."

Daniels turned and walked around to the side of the shop where a van was parked in a small alleyway, the back doors were already open and the bouquets were lined up in a rack, he added the one he carried to the rack and turned to find Cassandra thrusting another three at him. He placed all these in and she closed the van when he was done.

"Hey Cassandra…" Daniels began, taking his cap off and holding it at his side. Cassandra already knew what was coming.

"I'm washing my hair." She said with such genuine conviction that he forgot it was a poor excuse. Before he could even begin to feel awkward there was a rush of feet and voices coming up the street towards them.

"Marcus, Kelly, why aren't you in school?" Cassandra asked, seeing her two teenage children coming towards her, both out of breath.

"Its cancelled. High school and Midwich are both closed for the day. Some teachers and students didn't show up." Marcus explained, pressing hands on his knees to breathe.

"Well that's hardly reason to close the school!" Cassandra thought to herself. Police Chief Daniels stepped in and asked.

"Are you sure that's all that's happened?"

"Well shouldn't you know if something has gone wrong?" Cassandra snapped, she was angered at the trouble that could be taking place, and the Chief was here chatting her up again! She noticed Marcus taking in another deep breath, he was about to say something, the look in his eyes was one she had not seen for four years. Whatever he was about to say, it was big. Before he could speak however a voice squawked out of the radio. It was not an official police radio message, rather the informal shouts of colleagues.

"Chief, you receiving. Get down to Midwich now!"

"Guys, I have a lot of worried people calling in!"

"Roger that, I have missing persons reports flooding in, the phones are out and I can't reach anyone on the CB!"

"Okay station, can we get the paramedics out here too, there's a lot of frightened kids here."

Daniels looked up at the scrutinising face of Cassandra; he had turned his radio off at the worst possible time. He sighed, took one last look at the worried teenagers and then dashed back down the street too his squad car.

"I'm on my way!" He called into the radio at his waist, "my system was playing up," he added, cover for his late response. He practically leapt into his squad car and turned the lights on. He gunned the engine and lifted the handbrake, pulling away from the curb and rushing off down the streets in the direction of Old Silent Hill. As he disappeared around the corner, Cassandra ushered her two children inside the shop and switched the door sign from 'open' to 'closed'.

Marcus and Kelly watched with awe as their mother strode toward them, Marcus leant awkwardly on the counter and looked straight into his mothers eyes.

"Tell me everything that happened." She said firmly, holding his hand. The look was in his eye again, it was in Kelly's too. She tried too hard not to cry, Marcus took a deep breath in.

* * *

Bryony Ellis flung her apron off with frustration and paced across the deserted breakfast room. It was not the tourist season in Silent Hill but there were 14 guests in 6 rooms today. Not a single one of them had come down for breakfast yet. The clock clicked to 10:15 a.m. with a single chime. Breakfast closed at 10:30. At this rate she would have no time to prepare any dishes before they began setting up for lunch. She just prayed that everyone went for cereal and nobody wanted to be exotic and have a full-English. She flicked the rosary beads around her wrist with frustration, wondering what to do now. She let her greying hair down from the tight bun she normally had it in and left the dining room in a huff.

Passing into the main hallway she noticed the front door closing but failed to glance at who it was leaving. She turned around and headed towards the main desk, her godson Oliver was running the main desk today, outside of the season it was only her and her family.

"Who was-"

"Mr and Mrs Lucas with their children, the renovations are finished tomorrow. They will check out tonight." He interrupted, not looking up from the computer screen.

"Has anyone else-"

"No guests have left today, your husband left an hour ago, he has gone too the lookout."

"Is he-"

"Hunting for the eagle again? Yes. He almost got a good picture yesterday."

"What-"

"I am trying to check my emails, but I can't get online."

Bryony sighed, she did not have a clue how he did this, only ever with her, nobody else. She used to shout at him for it, it used to frighten her.

"Why do you-"

"Because you are so predictable Bryony."

He got up from his chair and yawned, stretching his arms out and scratching his back in an ape-like fashion. He turned around to fumble through the key stand, Bryony sighed as she saw it too. Most of the rooms were empty, it should be picking up by now.

"Where are all the guests?" she asked, this time Oliver did not answer right away, he stood staring into the computer screen. Bryony smirked. "Did you not see that one coming?"

"No," he replied with a wry grin, "I just don't know the answer."

The telephone rang and Oliver jumped.

"I guess you didn't expect that either." Bryony said with a wink.

"The phones have been dead all morning, who could it be?"

Bryony picked it up. At first there was something that sounded like static, she wondered if maybe it was an internal call, had someone plugged a modem in somewhere? She was about to dismiss it as a line fault when she heard something beneath the cacophony of noise. It was a familiar voice, but it was full of pain. At first it was just a whisper, words and moans. Then a scream. The static grew louder and into a high pitch squeal. That was enough for her, she had already dropped the receiver and was running for the door.

"Which-"

"Up to the observation post, in the hills!"

Bryony was thankful he was expecting that one.

She had been running as fast as she could for two minutes before she reached the observation post. It was a sturdy wooden balcony with picnic tables that overlooked the whole of Silent Hill and the lake. The fog was so thick and she had cut herself on brambles just after crossing the road. As she stepped onto the wood the entire structure creaked. The mist seemed to be slowly creeping around her, absorbing her until she was _outside. Separated from the town, the air was so cold, it was like night again. It was then she noticed the blood, leading further up the trail into the hills. She followed it, fearing the worst. Behind her the wooden balcony seemed to shake and bend as if attacked by an invisible wind. The limbs and supports bent and splintered, eventually crashing down with thud. Individual logs and planks rolled their way down the valley slopes, getting caught in the trees and bushes. She didn't know what to do. The blood trail suddenly stopped at the base of a tree, it wasn't old or gnarled, it was just the same as any other. She retreated back down the hill; she had to phone the police. Something was going on. She scrambled past the broken balcony, _and took in a breath of fresh air as she did. She heard police sirens in the distance and there was a large plume of smoke rising from the south of the town. Beyond that the hills seemed choked with further fog. She spun around and looked back up the slope, a wall of white faced her, it was like an unmoving avalanche. She was about to take the sensible option of retreat, but she heard the scream again.

"Help me!" The words echoed around the slope and Bryony burst into fits of tears.

"I'm coming!" She screamed back up the slope, estimating the direction of the shout, she began to run back into the fog. She crossed the divide once more_ and became enveloped in the mist._


	5. The Longest Morning

"_Take the next left." Heather said, leaning across between the front seats and pointing down a small road hidden amongst the thick trees. "A short while down here we will come to a gas station, you can drop me off there. There might also be some supplies-"_

"_Then what?" Gregory interrupted, he had been tense and on edge since the freeway incident._

"_Gregory!" Shouted Mrs McAlister and she rapped her son on the side of the head, he was quiet after that, taking the turn sharply and causing both Heather and Juliet to lose their balance and topple sideways. Once they were heading in a straight line again, they both buckled their seatbelts. This road was clearly not a well used one; there were large water-filled pot holes and weeds creeping through cracks. Gregory felt increasingly unsure about the road they were on, on either side of the road the fog hung so thick that the trees were almost impossible to see beyond the grey curtain._

"_Is this really the road you want?" Juliet whispered to Heather._

"_I'm certain, don't worry about me."_

"_I'm not worried about you-"_

"_Then don't worry about yourself."_

"_I'm more worried about my Uncle."_

_Gregory was shaking his head and muttering as he drove, Heather noticed his right hand was shaking violently on his lap. Heather was about to ask if he was okay when she spied a sign in the fog. They were here._

"_It's just up ahead, on the right." She said, leaning across between the front seats as far as her seat-belt would allow. She pushed herself back and took it off. The gas station came out of the distance, Gregory turned into the forecourt, as he did he spied a figure in the forecourt, a woman. Everyone else saw it too, they were not alone at this gas station.  
_

_Maria covered her eyes as the headlights shone across her. She glanced back at the store to see James come storming out, his pistol readily pointed at the vehicle that had just arrived. Juliet and Heather had already stepped out before they noticed the gun pointed straight at them._

"_Don't move!" He shouted whilst moving around to the side of the car, out of the glare of the lights. Heather and Juliet both jumped back in alarm. Gregory ducked down in the drivers seat, fumbling around in the glove box._

"_Where are you from?" James called to them._

"_Boston." Juliet called back. "We're looking for supplies."_

_James frowned, they didn't seem to be a threat, he peered into the car to see who else was there. There was an elderly lady; she seemed to be scared stiff. Then he noticed the driver stepping out, he flung his aim upon this man, eyeing him up. Gregory had already taken aim at James._

"_Now tell us where YOU are from!" He called._

_James was silent, he struggled to find the right answer, the easiest way out of this situation, clearly these were innocent people. He lowered his gun, hoping the other man would do the same. Gregory nodded and placed his weapon on the bonnet of the car._

"_Where we're from isn't important. Where are you heading towards?" James asked, he cast his watchful eye around, checking for Maria, she was leaning against one of the pumps, showing a diminishing interest in the events unfolding as she inspected a scuff on her leather boots._

"_My family and I are heading North," Gregory explained, "Heather here is going to a place called Silent Hill."_

_Silent Hill, hearing the name from someone else's mouth filled James with fear; he had only recently become comfortable with Maria mentioning the town. James resisted the urge to raise his gun and instead scrutinised Heather from head to foot._

"_You've been there, haven't you?" Heather asked, she could see the fear and alarm that filled him. James couldn't find the energy to reply; Maria walked up to him and placed her arm lovingly around his waist._

"_Why do you want to go there?" She called to Heather, "There's nothing in Silent Hill."_

"_I see it, I see it all the time."Heather explained, "Every day for the past month I have seen that town, it was clean as well, it was perfect."_

_James smiled, so there was someone else after all. Right away he felt he could trust her, someone who had seen what he had seen._

"_You should come with us then." Maria said._

"_All of them." James added, Maria scowled at him._

"_It's OUR town." She whispered angrily._

"_Not anymore Maria, not anymore." James said to her, he held her hand and stroked her palm gently, she relented. He turned to the McAlister family and Heather._

"_You all need to come with us, follow close behind."_

"People! People!" Chief Daniels called as he stepped through the station doors. From the main desk the young Deputy on duty waved desperately at Daniels.

"Chief, its chaos!" he shouted, Daniels thought that much was obvious. People were shouting at him, grabbing at him and he wanted to just run right out that door again. Thankfully however, the authoritarian voice within him took over. He strode up to the Deputy and asked him:

"Tell me what they want."

"We've got eight missing persons, power outages across town, no phone, internet, television or radio. I've dispatched an officer to the power station, and I've got an engineering team checking out the phone grids across town."

Daniels sighed and walked across the back of the station and into his small but practical office. The deputy thought for a moment his superior had abandoned him, thankfully that wasn't the case. Daniels returned with a megaphone and began to speak above the noise of the townspeople.

"Quiet please!" He called firmly, to his instant surprise the noise level dropped immediately, but murmurs and whispers still rippled through the crowd.

"Please form an orderly queue in front of the desk if you have a missing persons report or other to fill out. If you are out of power or water then there is nothing we can do as of yet, officers and engineers have already been dispatched to deal with the problem."

He certainly wasn't an orator, the simple words seemed enough, two thirds of the crowed stepped back and some even left. However around the desk people were still shuffling and nudging, clearly there were still problems that needed sorting. Just as the calm had been founded however the chaos started again. Through the doors a young man pushed his way in, he was panting and red in the face and was shouting.

"They've all gone!" He called, "everyone!"

Daniels approached him grabbing him firmly by the shoulder,

"Chief, I'm Oliver, I work at the hotel. I need to file sixteen missing persons reports."

From outside the station there came a horrible scream. Daniels immediately forgot about Oliver and dashed outside, his back and forehead had begun to perspire. A car sat in the centre of main street smoking from the bonnet. The driver's door was open and a bloodied body hung out onto the road. There was no need to approach; he could tell by the way the limbs were located that this person was dead. There was something else too, a logical inconsistency in the unfolding events. In a few instants he had gone from flirty cop, to crowd controlling authority and finally landed on his sleuthing instincts.

He imagined himself in a trench coat and fedora as he assessed the situation. Controlling the chaos was now in the hands of the deputies and townspeople who gathered around the scene, not daring to approach. Daniels did however, raising his arm to his nose to hide the stench; he could then hear the buzzing of flies.

This car had stopped in the middle of the street, the smoke from the bonnet and the flashing hazard lights suggested that the car had broken down. Nobody had been seen fleeing the car as far as he knew. But the body was sat in the driver seat. If someone had driven this car into town, how did they manage to put up with a rotting corpse? Why would they have that in their car anyway? If no witness revealed these vital clues then this would be a complete mystery to him. Dead bodies don't drive cars. If there was a living passenger, why would they even be trying to drive through the centre of town with a dead body so visible in their car? This was a small town, people noticed things here.

"Alright people! Step back!" he called out loud, assuming his previous role of authority and removing his imaginary sleuthing gear. He called out to one of his deputies, "try to hail the National Guard base on the radio and get someone from the hospital morgue down here to sort out this body!"

*

"_Tell me Bryony, are you without sin?"_

"_Yes."_

"_But how can you be sure?"_

"_Because I repent for all of them."_

"_But what about your husband?"_

"_I..."_

"_Is he without sin?"_

"_I..."_

"_IS HE WITHOUT SIN?"_

_Bryony had had enough long ago, but the voice hadn't gone away. Her eyes were so sore and the sun above blinded her as she stumbled from the woods. The banks of fog faded behind her _and she was free from the hell. She found herself on the road right on the edge of Silent Hill heading away to the north. Unknown to her this was the very same road Brett Thompson had driven along earlier. This fog was all around them, and it seemed only to get darker with each passing hour. Bryony collapsed by the roadside, her strength spent. She hadn't found her husband, only a voice that had haunted her, she didn't recognize the voice, but it certainly knew her. It chased her, spouting secrets and fears upon her. With her last ounces of strength she plucked herself off of the tarmac and carried on towards town, she forced back the tears. Her body was old and frail and her pace was pitifully slow. She had torn part of her woollen sweater on a tree branch and there was cuts and grazed all over her body. The road curved slowly round towards Toluca Lake and the hotel was close by. She wouldn't make it that far. She collapsed by the side of the road again, spraining her ankle as she flopped down. She lay here panting and sobbing, the late morning sun beating endlessly down upon her.


End file.
